Loyola Looks Strong In Fallball Scrimmage Against Duke

Loyola and Duke met at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore for a scrimmage on Saturday afternoon. The Greyhounds, which hosted Johns Hopkins and Michigan for a set of scrimmages last weekend, got off to a fast start. While Duke's Kerrin Maurer scored the first goal of the day, Loyola scored the next six, taking a 10-5 lead into halftime and ultimately winning by an unofficial score of 19-7. (Note: The teams played an additional 20-minute period. The 19-7 score reflects the score at the end of the regulation scrimmage.)

"I’m proud of our girls because the things we wanted to work on coming off the Hopkins and Michigan games we did a lot better in today’s game," said Loyola coach Jen Adams. "My goal wasn’t to score goals as much as it was to focus on things we didn’t do so well against Hopkins and Michigan."

Annie Thomas was outstanding as the quarterback of the offense. She finished with two goals and six assists to lead the team in points. Marlee Paton and Sydney Thomas added four goals each. Molly Husleman (3G), Hannah Schmitt (2G) and Katrina Geiger (2G) also contributed to a balanced offensive performance that featured quick passes and overall great ball movement in settled scenarios.

"That’s one of the things we focused on," Adams said. "I wanted to get a motion offense and sharing the load, being able to handle the ball under pressure and I thought Duke did a good job of coming out and putting us under that pressure. We did a good job of swinging our outlets through and recognizing when we weren’t open and keeping a balanced offense and that was something we focused on all week."

Duke, playing in its first scrimmage of the fall, was without defenders Taylor Virden, who was a first-team All-American in 2013, and Gabby Moise. Virden played the end of last season on a broken foot and had surgery in the offseason. She will miss the fall, but will be back for the start of spring practices. Moise, who suffered a minor labrum tear, and could return as early as later this fall.

"I thought it looked like it was our first game, and we have a lot of returners on the field," said coach Kerstin Kimel. "Not really satisfied with what we look like. We’re not going to be perfect on October 5, but we’ve spent a lot of time on basic stuff. I think because Loyola got off to a fast start, it caused us to panic a little bit and revert back to some bad habits."

Maurer and Kelci Smesko each scored two goals, and Maurer took draws and was huge on the 50-50 balls in the midfield. Typically the X attacker for the Blue Devils, Maurer also played up top, setting up teammates and looking to draw and dump.

"We expect Kerrin to be our leader on offense," Kimel said. "She very fit right now. She’s crushing it in the weight room and with conditioning. Her goal is to be more versatile. She’s been behind the goal for us. We want to try and move her around and not just have her behind cage."

Loyola next hosts Harvard on October 12 and Duke will participate in the Play for Parkinson's Tournament on Sunday.